


Hunting the Past

by LadyNightingGaleofMilvania, roshytsunami



Series: FFXV Halloween week 2019 [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Although he turns Vamp REAL QUICK, Blood, But not into bats!, Hunter!Ignis - Freeform, Ignis doesn’t like Vampires Let’s see if the changes shall we?, M/M, Oh so Shiny, Pining, Shiny Prompto, The Vamp Boys transform, There’s some good funny in here guys, We can’t forget to shine a spotlight on His Royal Highness Mr. Whiskerton IV, You’re not you without your Snickers Ignis, graveyards, vampire!Iris, vampire!Noctis, vampire!ardyn, vampire!gladio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-13 17:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21184544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyNightingGaleofMilvania/pseuds/LadyNightingGaleofMilvania, https://archiveofourown.org/users/roshytsunami/pseuds/roshytsunami
Summary: Ignis was a simple Vampire Hunter until he met Noctis, then his whole world turned upside down. It was flipped yet again when he met Gladiolus, another Vampire who takes a liking to him. One thing leads to another and a past that Ignis thought had stayed dead turned out to be quite... alive...





	Hunting the Past

Ignis fled into a church, running to escape his pursuers close behind him, and closed the large wooden door. The old tales said that creatures of the night couldn’t trespass on holy ground, he just had to hope it was true. Going to take a deep breath, Ignis found himself feeling as though someone were squeezing the very air from his lungs as he began to cough up blood onto the ancient stones that made up the floor.

“Well that’s far from good,” he managed to croak out once the fit had passed, holding his wounded side.

A handful of steps brought him to a pew and he collapsed onto it in an undignified heap, besides, there was nobody around to judge him for lack of grace, wounded as he was. It was still hours until daylight, until the safety of the sun would burn away all that plagued the darkness. Ignis tried to take a deep breath, but that only brought back the fit of painful coughs that had passed barely moments before.

His strength weakening from a combination of blood loss and exhaustion made it hard to drag himself back to his feet but Ignis managed, wiping away specks of blood from his mouth. While he had never really believed in any sort of religion he still didn’t want to sully anyone’s holy sanctuary were he to actually die.

In the back were another pair of wooden doors that led to a  _ graveyard _ of all places, the irony of it hitting him as he chuckled darkly, sinking to his knees as he stared at the sky. He always did find the stars beautiful.

Noct disliked the smell of blood… well not all blood he was just picky on which blood suited him. When his kind’s blood was spilt it smelt horrible compared to human blood it just smelt like iron, delicious to be honest. However, currently the smell of his brethern’s blood spilt on the ground did not offend him.

The lawless rogue had been causing his father’s kingdom trouble for some time. The didn’t follow the rules and turn every human they encountered. This wouldn’t have been an issue except rampant uncontrolled newborn vampires need to be under a responsible vampire not some blood thirsty hormonal monster who hadn’t even celebrate their first century. It is with this mindset that Noct finds the stragglers still trying to enter upon holy ground, he hears their hissing and screams from above and snorts.

“Haven’t even learned how to deflect amateurs,” he lands behind the ones trying to follow the human scent and grins. “Gentlemen,” he states as they turn their attention towards him eyes glowing red. “I believe the diner is closed,” he states as they begin to surround him.

\-----------

Noct burst through the church’s door jumping up and down on his feet. “Ugh it’s always worse this time of night,” he says sniffing the air.

He smears the blood off his face and reaches into his cargo pants for a capri sized container filled with blood with a hint of cherry. He bites into the top and begins to suck on it slurping the cherry flavored blood with ease.

That’s where he finds the man slumped over in the graveyard. His drink is finished and that annoying slurping static noise left after a drink is finished persists for a few seconds before Noct licks his lips.

“So are humans always this dramatic,” he asks, hovering in front of the dying man.

Ignis looked over, realizing that a vampire stood mere inches from himself and reached for weapons that he knew weren’t there in a sad attempt to put up a defense. At this point he could barely breathe, much less stand.

“At least─” Ignis managed to rasp out before the coughing overcame him again, spitting out more blood onto the ground, “At least it’s better than being some crazed vampire.” 

Noct blinks at him before letting out a hearty laugh rolling in the air onto his backside before flipping back over. He settles on the ground in front of Ignis and tilts his head up. “Barely can keep your head up but still want to sass the Vampire Prince? You’re either naive or stupidly brave… I’m going with naive,” he grins fangs protruding.

Noct smirks looking at the blood pooling in front of the human, “I see two options for you. Either death in this graveyard, or you can have one hell of a night life.”

Ignis opened his mouth to try and tell the Vampire Prince to go to hell, that he’d much rather die as a man than live as a monster, but he had no breath to do it. Unable to cough up the blood that was drowning him, he simply fell over limply and closed his eyes and hoped that, whatever the outcome may be, he could simply just  _ rest _ .

Noct sighs, “Humans always leaving you wanting more.” He lifts Ignis’s body from the ground and looks him over, “Hmm that wasn’t exactly a no.”

Noct extends his fangs as far out as he can before biting into the soft flesh of Ignis’s neck sucking his blood. He spits it out onto the ground before wiping his lips. “You should be thanking me not just anyone gets to join the Crownsguard,” he says before pricking his finger with one of his nails and letting it drip into Ignis’s mouth.

Noct lays Ignis down on the ground and stares at him, “And now we wait… hopefully not too long, the sun will be up soon.”

Suddenly sucking in breath was something Ignis didn’t expect. Another unexpected moment was the fact that he could not only breathe, but he felt like he had never been better! After taking a full assessment of himself he realized that nothing felt wrong or hurt, just  _ new _ . However, with this new feeling came even more new “feelings”.

Like an overwhelming  _ hunger _ . Ignis swiftly sat up, the gnawing at his stomach quickly swelling to a burning in his throat as though he had just crossed an entire desert without a single drop of water. Grabbing at his pouch strapped to his leg, Ignis quickly removed a bottle and flung the cap off, quickly guzzling down the liquid within before retching, container slipping from his grasp. The water burned his throat as though he had swallowed acid.

“Wh─what’s happened to me?” he gasped to himself.

“Oh hey specs glad to see sleeping beauty woke up before dawn,” grins Noct. “Yeah drinking water is one human thing you can’t do anymore… along with no sunlight, or human relations…” he states blankly, “Anyway it was either let you die or this and you really didn’t say no so,” he drags off before tossing a capri pouch towards him. “It’s bland might be bad if you start with a flavor blood.”

Ignis backed away quickly, instinctively grabbing for a blade as the pouch hit the blood-stained ground in front of him. The words he just heard rang clearly in his mind.  _ It was either let you die or this, and you really didn’t say no. _

“You  _ changed _ me,” Ignis sputtered, disbelief in his voice, “How dare you─”

“There’s a funny thing about turning,” Noctis cut off with an offhanded grin, “Something that your textbooks don’t know about.”

Any words that had been in Ignis’ mouth dried up at that statement. There was little that had been left unknown in the records, little that had yet to be brought to mortal light.

“You can’t be changed against your will. Looks like you didn’t wanna die that bad after all.”

It couldn’t be true. He tried to remember those final thoughts of his, he recalled wanting to die rather than be beast… he had been so tired that the memories began to blur into just wanting rest…

“ _ How dare you, _ ” Ignis growled again, baring new fangs in a snarl of hot anger

“Ah ah,” says Noct raising a hand, “You might wanna be careful with those new fangs of yours, not to mention daylight is coming soon, so do you want to die a firey death or live another night?” He shrugs, “Fiery death isn’t that great. As agonizing as you humans put it… oh sorry  _ used-to-be _ humans. I’m not turning into bacon tonight, so either follow me or die. It would seem like such a waste of my blood if you died now.”

As much as Ignis would rather burn to death, a small part of him quaked in fear at the thought. For now, he would follow the other and, if he ever found the courage, would seek a final dawn at a later date. He picked up the bottle, the contents half empty, and carefully placed the cap back on, setting it back in the pouch he had procured it from. Ignis couldn’t help but hiss through his teeth as he followed every step, feeling the rising sun with every moment. Ignis couldn’t help but look back at the brightening spot in the horizon with longing. The first one he had been awake for in years and it would be his last unless he chased it to his death.

“Hmm so what’s your name? Can’t keep calling you specs,” Noct states floating above Ignis nonchalantly, “Cool isn’t it? You’ll be able to do it in a few years if you’re lucky and don’t go on a blood rampage.”

Ignis continued on in silence, ignoring the other.

  
“You know like the vampires you were taking care of earlier,” Noct continued, pointing behind him before landing on the ground again. “Ugh I hate walking, how do humans do it,” he whines. “Seriously so boring,” he states looking back at Ignis.

Noct pauses in front of one the gravestones and wipes the carving revealing an ostentatious name.

“Yeah this is the one,” he says looking back at Ignis. “So little trick you humans might know about but certain gravestones are opening to our lair, but you or well past you couldn’t get through cause of barriers,” he says pushing his hands through the tombstone. “Come on nightlight is fading,” he says offering his hand to Ignis.

Hesitantly Ignis reached out his hand, recoiling inwardly at the casual touch between them. Going straight into a coven of vampires was the last thing he wanted to do, but it unfortunately ranked higher than burning alive. A sudden thought occurred to him, pulling the other vampire toward him.

“You could always burn with me,” Ignis bit out.

Noct snorts as Ignis pulls him, “You’re cute trying to act tough,” he states before twisting Ignis arm breaking it. “Lesson for you,” he says before yanking him down under the gravestone.

It’s a strange experience. Instead of walking down stairs into the vampire lair they are falling or flowing through some magical tunnel that acts more like a slip and slide than a sane means of transportation. Colors flash before their eyes in various shades and hues before a hum is heard near the end. Noct floats easily as the tunnel opens up and lands on his feet while Ignis is none to graceful and falls flat on his face onto the stone ground.

“Hahaha that never gets old,” Noct states seeing the look in Ignis’s eyes. “Hey don’t be mad you’re arm is just going to feel swollen it’s not broken anymore I bet,” he states turning down the concrete pathway which overlooks a large dreary castle. “Humans got one thing right, we do love a good spooky house to live in.”

Ignis felt his face turn red, the pain in his arm already fading as he pushed himself onto his feet. Throughout the entire venture of turning and then promptly being forced through the barrier his hunger had only been growing, almost unbearable degree. The castle was like a picture out of a hunter’s textbook, dark colors painting it as a whole. Other vampires wandered the grounds, watching as Ignis stood behind the vampire prince. He couldn't relax, his guard cranked to past max until he felt every nerve stand on edge with his eyes constantly scanning side to side to observe the vampires.

Noct yawns walking down towards the castle. He looks behind him and sees Ignis’s eyes and sighs. “Ignis you need to drink,” he states offering him one of the various blood bags he carries on his person. “If you don’t drink you die or you lose your mind and become a blood thirsty beast that even vampires have to put down.”

He walks by him nudging Ignis to drink from the container. He turns his head away trying to give what little privacy he can to the newly turned vampire when he sees both of them walking towards him.

“Prom stay behind Gladio,” he nearly yells.

Prompto's whine rang clearly through the air as he tried to move past the larger man─Gladiolus─in front of him. The muscular vampire quickly grabbed the collar of Prompto's shirt.

"You heard 'em, stay back here."

Noctis rolled his eyes and tossed the bag of blood to Ignis who caught the bag without thinking, staring with horror before throwing it back in anger. 

"Then put me down! Better than walking around as I am!" Ignis snarled at Noctis with furrowed brows.

The bag slides down Noct’s shirt. “Ignis you need to drink. You’re not going after Prom-”

“Princess let me handle this,” Gladio says giving Prompto the eye to stay back before walking over to the snarling Ignis. He grabs Ignis by his shoulder and squeezes them into place before pushing him down to the ground straddling him so he can’t move. He rips open the blood pack on the ground with his fangs and pries open Ignis’s mouth before pouring the blood into it.

Ignis coughed and sputtered, alternating between trying to spit the blood out, actually swallowing it, and attempting to breathe. In the end he managed about half of the bag, the other half smeared on his face or splattered on the ground. For a moment he became enraged, struggling against the larger man until realization hit him. 

It had tasted… good… and he wanted more… He really _ wasn't _ human anymore.

Ignis went still, defeated and unable to see through the thick blood droplets that had flown onto his glasses, managing to glare over the lenses at Gladio.

Gladio looks at the bloody soaked Ignis as if he was a drooling baby with the angriest glare imagined and grins. “You good bud? You’re not you without your snickers,” he chuckles.

A quick, annoyed exhale through his nose was his only response as Ignis managed to wiggle out from under Gladio, shoving at him futilly, the other not budging a single inch. It was like shoving a wall, just how strong was he?

"Don't  _ ever _ do that to me again," Ignis growled out eventually.

Gladio snorts and lifts himself off of Ignis looking down at the bloody unorganized man. “Pretty sure I can change your mind on that,” he smirks offering a wink to Ignis.

“Gladio,” says Noct Prompto by his side. “Managed to make him drink some blood?”

Gladio shrugs rolling his shoulders, “Wasn’t hard to make the twig eat.”

Noct lets out a sigh of relief as Gladio crosses his arms over his chest looking at Ignis, “So where’d you find this one?”

Noct chuckles, “Graveyard. He took on over ten newly changed, as a human.”

Gladio raises an eyebrow at that, “So the stick can fight,” giving Ignis a smile.

"Even a stick can pierce flesh as easily as a blade," Ignis spit out.

Noct rolls his eyes, “Gladio I wanna go home and sleep you guys can fuck later.” He wraps his arm around Prom’s shoulders, “So how was your night?”

Ignis blushed deeply and opened his mouth to say something but was immediately cut off by Prompto’s babbling.

“I’ve missed you so  _ muuuuch _ !” Prompto whined, immediately attaching himself to Noctis’ arm, “Gladio tried to play games with me, but he’s a sore loser.”

He walked in perfect sync with Noctis’ steps, Ignis lagging behind still red faced and embarrassed from everything that had happened. The stares continued as they came closer to the building until Ignis was gritting his teeth as one woman approached him.

“A fresh one, huh? How exciting!” the woman crooned, admiring Ignis as though he were a new attraction at a park.

“As exciting as an entire life spent hunting vampires like you down until I turned them to ash around my daggers,” he bit out at the woman. 

The woman’s eyes sparkle as she looks over at Gladio, “He’s a feisty one Gladdy. I like him already, and approve,” she winks at Ignis.

Gladio groans, “Approve of what? Iris, you’re not scheming anything are you?”

Iris laughs and puts a finger to her lips smiling, “That’s a secret,” she says before skipping off.

“You got any siblings?” Gladio sighed, continuing when Ignis answered with a hard look, “Uh well Princess never introduced you, so what’s your name?”

“I don’t intend on staying long enough to expect you to remember my name,” Ignis replied, watching Iris skip away like there wasn’t a care in the world, “And the answer is no. A vampire killed my family when I was young.”

After that day his heart had closed to vampires. His parents had been pro to integrating them into society─they were misunderstood, they had said, they could be kind!─but he had to admit that Iris was definitely adorable. It was a term he had never thought would become attributed to a vampire for him, but well… he wasn’t exactly human anymore, so why shouldn’t that opinion change for one vampire?

Gladio rolls his eyes, “Yeah if you leave you’re going to get killed in less than a week. Either you’ll forget you can’t go into the sun or some rogue vampires will kill you for fun, or worse case you’ll become so bloodthirsty you’ll go on a killing spree and have to be put down like a dog. Do those options sound good to you? You gotta live for the now… or undead live? I mean, sorry about your family that’s rough buddy but this is the present.”

“You should totally live, it’s great here!” Prompto said, tugging Noctis back toward the other two.

“Why would you even want to live here as a human?  _ How _ did you even get here as a human?” Ignis asked, astounded that any human would ever want to live in such a place at all.

“Oh,” Prompto started, bright eyes turning dark as he looked to the floor and kicked at nothing in particular, “Well I actually was kinda  _ created _ with the purpose of coming here anyway? I was the latest model of the Verstael series. I’m series N-iP01357, model 05953234,” here Prompto showed the barcode stamped into his skin, “The scientist that created me had tried to sell clones so that vampires would have a lesser need to feed on hu─”

“You’re human too, Prom. You know that,” Noctis said with a yawn, nudging Prompto which caused the other man to smile shyly as he picked up his head.

“He made it so food was more accessible,” Prompto continued, “Regis─oh, that’s Noct’s dad!─didn’t really like the idea so… they went to leave, but Noct insisted on leaving with me so,” a smile and shrug, “here I’ve been since!”

Ignis stared in silence. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the horrors that Prompto must have gone through in his lifetime, to be alive simply for the purpose to be fed upon, and couldn’t help but feel disgust for the Verstael─he was famous in the human realm, and with the hunters in particular, for creating everything from their weapons to armor, or providing up-to-date knowledge that no other seemed able to attain. Now, with Prompto’s history, Ignis realized that it was made from playing both sides for his own benefit.

“Alright Princess it’s time for a long sleep before night comes again,” he says placing a hand on Ignis. “I’ll show the nameless guy to his room.”

“Nameless?” he blinks confused. “Oh yeah I forgot to ask his name.” He yawns. He let’s out a whine and leans on Prompto. “Prom I wanna sleep in my comfy bed with you come on,” another yawn escaped him before picking Prompto up from the ground and floating down the hallway.

Gladio chuckles, “I swear he needs more sleep than any vampire I know,” states Gladio looking back as Ignis as they walk in the opposite direction. “So Nameless, wanna tell me your name yet? I could come up with a real good one if you don’t tell me… like Humphrey, or Herbert,” he teases.

“It’s Ignis,” he replied stiffly, following Gladio, “Ignis Scientia.”

Gladio pauses in his step and turns around looking at Ignis. “Scientia… the same Scientia that was working on vampire rights? With the treaty? You’re that Scientia?!”

“That would be my mother and father you’re thinking of,” Ignis corrected, “I was young when they began trying to establish rights for vampires.”

Gladio laughs, running a hand through his hair, “Well shit. I didn’t know Noct had turned someone famous. Seriously your mom and dad were the best. Everything was running smoothly until they disappeared… Hey so what was the name of the vampire that killed them again? Just curious to know who I gotta find to teach a lesson.”

“All I remember is a fedora and too many coats.”

Gladiod lets out a growl, “They messed up potential years of a vampire treaty,” he states before catching Ignis’s face. “And they were your parents too...”

Gladio patted him softly on the back in a  _ there there _ sentiment as he watched Ignis open and close his hands into fists several times before simply going slack.

Gladio rubs his head, “Fedora and too many coats? Wait I thought your parents were killed in their house?” He looks at Ignis worried, “How did you see that vampire?”

“By my parents hiding me in the closet when the front door had been broken in,” Ignis stated numbly, recalling the fuzzy memory with its few clear points, “I had fallen asleep in their bed and just remember waking up and them putting me in there. Then the man in the coats…”

Ignis trailed off, remembering in vivid detail exactly what the vampire had done, remembered his parents turn deathly pale as their blood had been split between the flooring and the creature’s reddened and dripping mouth. Most of all he remembered those chilling words as the vampire had stared him dead in the eye with a terrifying smile.

_ “Oh you poor, scared boy. Mummy and daddy don’t look so good…” _

Gladio places his hand on Ignis’s shoulder, “Ignis?”

Ignis coughed, startled out of the memory, “Mmm, yes. He spoke to me, knew I was there, and left. I barely escaped the fire afterwards.”

Gladio sighs, “Well shit, no wonder you hate vampires so much,” he states before his eyes widen. “Hey did the coat guy have reddish purple hair, bad english accent?” Gladio looks at Ignis’s face and shrugs, “You know what doesn’t matter we need to get to bed before the first sun comes up… not that the sun can enter this place but we need to get you on a different sleep schedule.”

Ignis was about to ask why he would go to bed when he remembered that he wasn’t human, vampires sleep during the day─or at least mostly, there was always the outlier that would wander in the sun as they blistered. The fact that he was up so late helped since he was already exhausted, so he followed without fuss, exhaustion beginning to pull at him. As they passed numerous doors Gladio eventually opened one and they stepped inside.

“Welcome to your new room. Iris sleeps on the left and you can share with me on the right bed,” he grins.

Ignis started to argue when suddenly he was bowled over by Iris, who had crept up from the side of the room in the shadows.

“You’re here! Oh, I can’t wait to show you around tomorrow!” she said in an excited tone, “You probably want to sleep through, we only have a few, but if you want you can have my bed. I’m not gonna be sleeping for a while, and you can’t stop me Gladdy!” Iris laughed, hugging Ignis tighter.

He had never met a vampire who was so jovial and cute, it threw him off and he simply looked to Gladio for help.

Gladio crosses his arms, “Iris I don’t care how much energy you have right now you need to go to sleep. And Ignis is not taking your bed. We’re two guys we can share a bed for a night.”

Iris looks past Ignins still hugging him, “Two guys in a bed, five feet apart because they’re not gay,” she teases sticking her tongue out at him before releasing Ignis. “If Gladdy cause you trouble just come to my room and I’ll knock some sense into him.”

Gladio snorts, “Iris.”

“What someone has to protect the new guy and you can be a meanie Gladdy,” she says sticking her tongue out at him again before heading to her room. She’ll just sneak out once Gladio and Ignis fall asleep.

“Is she always like that?” Ignis asked incredulously as he stood up, “I’ve never met a vampire so… well, like her for lack of a better phrase.”

Gladio crosses his arm, “So human like? We all were at some point Ignis. Not all vampires are bad, and Iris has a lot of energy,” he smiles.

With that Ignis made his way to the bed and, after a moment’s hesitation, dragged himself onto the bed, falling asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes.

When Ignis awoke he opened his eyes and realized that everything hadn’t been a dream. This was his life now, and he could feel hunger gnawing at him. Suddenly he sat up, looking down at his clothes with horror. He had yet to change or bathe and there were stains covering his clothes where they weren’t already torn or damaged, his hair mussed and clumped from yet more blood. Beside him Gladio was still asleep, so he silently got up and wandered out in search of a place to wash and repair his clothing as well as they could be, hearing Iris’ voice as he walked into the main room.

“Can’t stop me if you’re asleep, Gladdy,” she chuckled softly, already halfway out the door when she caught sight of him.

“You’re supposed to be asleep,” Ignis told her unthinkingly with one brow raised.

“So are you,” Iris chimed, “Your body goes through, like, a  _ ton _ of changes when you’re new. You need sleep more than me, it’s only been a few hours. If you need more blood it’s in the fridge,” she continued softly, voice filled with kindness as she pointed to another room, “No one will be up for a long time, so it’ll be private.”

Ignis couldn’t help but feel guilty, he had always seen vampires as monsters. They were terrible beasts that needed to be put down, regardless of who they were, but so far─besides the forced feeding─they were like any other person he had ever interacted with. The cheer Iris had could light a room, and all he could do in response was simply nod mutely as she snuck the rest of the way out of the room.

“Don’t tell Gladdy I went out, it’ll be our little secret, ‘kay?” she added just before the door shut with a nearly inaudible  _ click _ .

He looked to the room Iris had pointed to, slowly walking in to stand with his hand on the fridge handle. He honestly didn’t feel that different other than this burning thirst. He still felt like him─like Ignis Scientia, youngest vampire hunter seen in 30 years─yet here he was, about to grab a bag of blood to feed himself. It was something that should seem wrong, and on some levels it still did, but after that first moment… he just remembered the taste, and that alone made him salivate. Slowly he opened the door, the scent of the blood wafting to him, and he grabbed a bag, trying not to look at it as he riffled through the cabinets quietly in an attempt to feel more human, to be able to pretend it was simply a sort of red wine to be delicately sipped and savored like he often would on his few downtimes. He managed to actually find a wineglass, gently removing it and then puncturing a hole in the bag with a fang unthinkingly before pouring some into it, filling the glass halfway with the thick liquid and swirling before taking a small sip.

Gladio grumbles in his sleep. The scent on his sheets had become fainter since he had laid down and that’s not a good sign. He moans as he lifts himself up on one arm. He rubs his eyes with his other hand and looks down at the bed with no Ignis in sight. He shift to look over his shoulder and doesn’t see Ignis on the bed either.

He curses under his breath before throwing the covers off his body and bolting out of the room. The idiot might be sleep walking to the sun or worse. He stumbles into the kitchen and sees the tall man sipping blood from a wine glass and lets out a sigh of relief. “Oh good you didn’t leave to burn in the sun, good.”

Ignis turned quickly at the sound of Gladio’s voice, dropping the glass and wincing as it shattered upon impact with the floor.

“Hey no need to get so loud,” he says rubbing his ears. Unfortunately in his haste Gladio had forgotten to get some pants on, not to mention he forgot to mention the fact he slept in the nude. It simply got too hot in the room. He really needed to fix the A/C but who had time for that when sleeping in the nude and a thin sheet did the job well enough. 

“So could you not sleep?” he asks moving closer towards Ignis not awake enough to acknowledge he is naked or he simply doesn’t care. He has nothing to be ashamed about.

“I slept just fine, this is just when I normally get up no matter how much sleep I get,” Ignis replied, looking away quickly as he got a full─and very impressive, if he was being honest─view of the other man.

His throat still burned, he’d barely drank any when Gladio had appeared, but he just couldn’t bring himself to drink more with another around. He searched for a towel to clean up the mess he had made, trying to ignore how his throat tightened painfully and his insides felt like they had been stuck in a blender.

“When you’ve been training to hunt vampires from as young as I was when I joined, you learn to wake up at the same time no matter how much sleep you’ve had or where you fell asleep in,” he admitted, finding a roll of paper towels and grabbing a few, “I’ve slept in some pretty odd places, if we’re being honest. So being in a bed is odd to me, I’m not surprised I woke up after a few hours.”

Gladio nods his head, “Hmm, I guess that makes sense. Bed’s are too soft sometimes.” He kneels by Ignis. “I can clean this up, get another drink. You must feel thirsty,” he states as a command taking the paper towels from Ignis’s hands cleaning up the blood. “Ignis, why is your face turning red,” he asks looking up at the man as he picks out the glass carefully from the spill. “You have a fever or something?” 

“I’m simply not used to people strutting about without their clothes on.”

Gladio looks down at his front before grinning up at Ignis, “Like what ya see?” he winks at him before letting out a loud laugh. He finishes picking up the glass from the floor before standing up and placing the shards in the nearest garbage can.

“There’s nothing wrong with nakedness… kind of not a thing with our kind. You could flash everyone in the community if you want and no one would bat an eye at it,” he snorts. “Puns.”

Ignis fumbled about awkwardly, not knowing what to do and not willing to…  _ drink _ … in front of others, eventually settling for washing the few dishes that sat in the sink.

Gladio finishes wiping the blood from the floor before standing up and tossing the blood soaked towel in the trash. “If it makes you more comfortable I can get some─” he doesn’t get to finish his sentence as Ignis speaks.

“I’m not… I can’t... “ Ignis started, struggling to find words between the fact that Gladio so casually wandered comfortably in his nakedness and that Ignis was quickly growing more and more nauseous by the moment, “I can’t eat in front of others, even when I was human.”

Ignis wanted to say more, but as soon as he said that last word his head began to pound and he left it at that, setting the now-clean dishes to dry. He would have put them away if he had enough bearings in the home, but unfortunately he barely remembered how they had gotten to the specific area they were at, all he had looked for on their way were exits. Hunter habits were hard to put down.

Gladio looks at the worn man and nods his head. “Ignis go sit on that couch over there. I’ll make you a drink and head to bed so you can eat in peace.” He opens the fridge and pulls out a blood bag and tears the corner off easily as he pours it into a long glass. He walks over to Ignis and offers the glass towards him. “You need to drink. It’ll make it worse if you don’t.”

He turns his back towards him muscles rippling before looking over his shoulder grinning, “also I’ll make sure to wear something to bed from now on Specs,” he teases heading to the room to get some needed rest.

There is was again. The guilt of assuming all vampires were the same.  _ Was this what they had seen? _ Ignis asked himself as he reached out a hand to the glass and slowly drank, the tightening in his throat easing, along with the sensation of fire and the throbbing in his head. He still wanted to change out of his clothes and bathe before he even thought about heading back to sleep, not that he was remotely tired in the first place. He waited for the sounds of sleep to float into the room before quietly leaving to find a quiet place away from everyone to try and get the stains out as best he could with the remaining holy water that he had. The biggest mundane advantage of holy water is that it was a bit more potent with staining so long as it wasn’t more than a day when it set in.

Eventually, Ignis gave up finding a door out and settled for a dead-end hallway at the bottom-most floor. He pulled out the bottle and removed the cap, unbuttoning his shirt and setting it on the floor before pouring the last of what remained onto the shirt, hissing sharply as some of it splashed onto his bare torso and burned into his skin. He grabbed the pouch and began to scrub at the bloodstains, ignoring the pain from his hands as the fabrics rubbed against each not other and the stains turned from a rusty brown to a reddish-pink and his hands could barely move. Ignis tried to flex his fingers experimentally and sighed when they barely moved an inch back and forth, leaning back against the wall with a shaky sigh.

\-------------------

Gladio groans stretching in bed straightening out his legs in bed before sighing. He places an arm over his head. He can feel that it’s close to 7:15 at night. His body has gotten used to the change of sleeping in the day to night. Not unlike how he worked his nightshift when he was human. He sits up in bed yawning and wipes the corner of his mouth feeling the drool stains. Gross.

He moves his legs to the side of the bed and stands up looking for something decent to wear since he doesn’t want to offend Ignis like he did last night. Hopefully Ignis will get used to nudity sooner than later but he seems worse than the worst tight ass human. Gladio shrugs into one of the form fitting shirts he owns and places his leather pants back on. They could still be worn not that dirty, not yet at least.

He walks into the living area hoping to see a restful Ignis and not a stressed Ignis from last night. Instead he sees a struggling Ignins on the couch. The final change is taking hold of the man and there is nothing Gladio can do.

Ignis groaned, his face firmly placed into the cushion and curled into a ball, sweat beading on his skin.

Quickly Gladio grabs a dishtowel from the sink and soaks it in cool water before rushing towards Ignis side. “Hey bud this is the worst part. You gotta let it happen. Struggling makes it worse,” he soothes placing the cloth on Ignis’ sweating brow, “Don’t let it fester Ignis. Come on it’s going to hurt worse-” he states not able to finish as Ignis poofs into a purple cloud of dust making Gladio cough. Gladio covers his face waving the smoke away. “It’s alright Ignis this is the final step nothing worse after this except hunger,” he gets out before chuckling. He can’t hold it back anymore and lets out a loud roar of laughter taking in Ignis new form. 

Which turned out to now be a cat.

“Man dude, this animal fits you perfectly,” he says touching the cat. “Your fur is so soft...you’re really cute like this. Holy shi,t even yours glasses made it through the transformation!” he exclaims, running a hand over to the glasses shaped outline around Ignis’s new set of eyes.

A few minutes later the purple smoke returns and Ignis is there in the full naked flesh making Gladio raises an eyebrow in surprise. “Damn Specs you actually have muscles under the suit you wear don’t ya,” he winks.

Ignis blushed deeply, scrambling for his clothes and putting the pants on hastily.

“A cat… I’m a  _ cat _ of all things?” he asked no one in particular.

He couldn’t help but find a sense of irony in the situation, especially since he was more of a dog person, much to everyone’s surprise who found out. A knock sounded at the door before Prompto’s voice could be heard on the other side.

“Hey guys! Noct and I came to see how the new guy is doing!” he informed, knocking the whole time.

Iris scurried out of her room, throwing the front door wide open and hugging Prompto, tugging him and Noctis─who was leaning against the wall next to the door─into the room and closing it back behind them. That’s when the three noticed Ignis’ lack or shirt and his still unbuttoned pants.

“Gladdy, you  _ didn’t, _ ” Iris gasped from behind her hands.

“You actually had sex?!” Prompto crowed, slapping at Noctis’ shoulder.

Noct grins, “Didn’t know you worked that fast Gladio.”

“It’s not what you think!” Ignis insisted loudly, his flush growing from just his cheeks to his entire face and down to his neck and shoulders.

Gladdy smiles, “Not yet,” he says looking at Ignis for a moment. “He turned into his animal form, wasn’t feeling so great the last couple of hours.”

Noct frowns, “You feeling better now? Besides being half naked?”

Gladio rolls his eyes, “Noct it’s too early for the questions. Ask later after he gets dressed,” he says slapping Ignis on the back.

Ignis yawned, throwing on his shirt and heading back to the bedroom he shared with Gladio.

“I’m going to bed,” he said sleepily.

“The moon is up! Why are you doing this!”

Noct groans, “The sun will make you crispy, you idiot.”

“Guys you’re both pretty come on Noct let him sleep. It only been what not even a day since he nearly died and changed? That’s a lot to process. He gave up humanity it’s going to take some time,” Gladio tells Noct who just sighs.

“Fine but tomorrow he needs to start getting up on time. I don’t want him to walk into the sun less than a week after being changed.”

“Yeah Noct sure sure maybe you should go do something with your boyfriend and have fun. I can handle this,” Gladio whispers to him.

Prompto snickered at Noctis’ reaction, hearing what Gladio had said, before being unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

“So what did he turn into?”

“The most adorable calico I’ve ever seen. Even had the frame of his glasses around his eyes,” he beams clutching his hands together, “It was so cute and his fur is so soft and fluffy, like cotton candy!”

“Wait,” Iris said immediately, eyes sparkling with excitement, “You mean like His Royal Highness Mr. Whiskerton the Fourth?”

Iris nearly stormed over to Ignis at that very moment so she could try and see, but managed to stop herself before she even took one step. There was plenty of time to get to witness Ignis transform into a cat, maybe even cuddle him and get to touch his tail, or even his paws if she was lucky!

Gladio looks at Iris eyes sparkling as well, “Even cuter. I need to check out the toe beans later, but he was so cute as a cat Iris,” he states before clearing his throat seeing Noct give him the look.

“Uh anyway he should be ok for now. Just needs some rest for now,” he smiles. “Iris I need you to watch over him for me. I gotta get groceries.”

“Groceries,” she asks looking at him. “Are you sure about getting groceries?”

Gladio nods his head, “Yeah I’ll be fine. Maybe you can join me Princess,” he asks looking at Noct.

Noct shrugs, “Not like I had royal duties to deal with tonight. Sure why not I hate those meetings. Up for some groceries Prom?”

“Sure!”

“Right, Iris watch over Ignis and we should be back soon,” he smiles.

“You got it,” she beams watching as the boys leave before looking over at Ignis and staring at him. “Can you change into a cat again? Gladdy said you were cuter than even His Royal Highness Mr. Whiskerton the Fourth! Please, please please!”

“I don’t even know how to change, Iris,” Ignis sighed, dragging himself back out into the main room, “I’ll just stay up if you have coffee.”

While Iris showed Ignis where the coffee was located the other three left. He couldn’t help but think about the convenience of “leaving for coffee”.

“Hey Iris?” Ignis asked as she plugged in the 12 cup coffee maker and dumped in coffee, the filter filling with the ground caffeinated beans.

“Hmmm?”

“Do vampires even eat normal human food?”

“Not really,” she answered, pouring in water and then clicking the button to tun the machine on, “But sometimes we do, it tastes really different from what it used to through. I can’t make my cupcakes right anymore, but you learn to just make things… differently. Gladio started eating his steaks blue rare, it’s kinda gross actually.”

“Iris…”

“Yes, Ignis?”

“I don’t think they’re getting groceries…”

\-------------------

Prompto looked between Gladio and Noctis, both with serious faces on, and sighed deeply.

“We’re not going out for groceries, huh?”

Gladio teases, “You figure that out all on your, shortcake?”

Noct growls, “Knock it off, we don’t want to get caught.” He looks at the large intimidating cave that has some lights coming from within and sighs. “You sure he’s in there?”

“Long coats and a fedora couldn’t be anyone else but Ardyn and he lives here. Creepy right,” he states. “So how are we going to get him distracted or go in without him noticing us?”

Noct shrugs his shoulders, “Don’t know. We would need a distraction of some kind because you want him alive so Ignis can kill him, right?”

“That’s the plan, and shortcake can stay outside the cave,” he says looking over at Prom. “Don’t need you getting hurt or in the way.”

"Then why did you let me come for groceries that aren't actually groceries?"

Noct frowns, “I don’t want to lose you Prom and Ardyn… Ardyn is worse than any vampire you’ve encountered.”

“Right and no one but monsters should enter the cave unless… maybe as bait,” states Gladio grinning. 

Inside the cave is tunnels and rooms beyond what one can imagine filled with all sorts of bables and coins throw haphazardly around the room. Most of them can be seen for what they are traps from greedy humans. They are set up like venous fly traps in that once an item is pulled or picked up instant death or cage installation. Something none of the men want to face.

Which is why Prompto is confused why he has been disguised as a walking glittering golden human. The costume is bulky and unnecessary not to mention why does he need to speak louder? “Wow, glittering money cave. And just like me, it's covered in shinnies because I want to be the best pokemon trainer. Shiny shiny no duh... Sparkle twilight, sparkle boom.” 

Gladio hisses at him, “You need to sell it more!”

"Why do I even have to be in this?" Prompto hissed, "It's not even comfortable! What's wrong with my normal clothes?"

“They weren’t shiny enough sunshine,” whispers Noct. “Come on dude just brighten up the room like you normally do.”

Prompto rolled his eyes and walked with exaggerated steps and shouted, "Oh look at me, so lost! Shiny and bright! Like a lightbulb, but better!" He tripped and groaned into the dirt, rolling over and continuing to yell, "Oh woe is me! My shiny outer shell has become tainted with the dirt, whatever shall I do?"

A flash of reddish hair later Ardyn appeared, offering out a hand to Prompto.

"You've seemed to have fallen and can't get up, might I assist you my bright friend?"

Noct is hiding with Gladio behind one of the stones and makes a move to get Prompto when Gladio’s larger hand pulls him back. “Wait.” Noct eyes turns red as he shimmers hiding behind the stone.

"Oh, thank you. I couldn't decide what jewelry to wear, so I just put on all of it. You think it was too much?" Prompto asked, anxiety suddenly ramping up at the sight of the man.

"No, no, no! It's quite…" Ardyn pause here, fingering the jewelry and leaning close enough to nearly bury his nose in Prompto's hair to scent him, " _ Wonderful. _ "

Gladio has to hold Noct back from attacking Ardyn and flicks Noct’s ear. “You attack now he dies control it or go home,” he hisses moving quietly behind the boulder, hoping Prompto can keep the man talking nonsense.

“Thank you?” Prompto replies with an awkward chuckle, “Where did you get your coats? They look like they’re great at keeping you warm while looking chic!”

Thank goodness that worked as Ardyn’s lips quirk up, but gets no farther away from Prompto, as he describes every coat and who he took it from and how.

Gladio inches quietly hunching over as much as he can when an instant idea pops into his head. “You follow behind me stay out of his eye sight and bounce when I say three.”

Gladio walks quietly towards another rock as a grey smoke disperses revealing a small brownish black hamster running along the ground. It takes a few seconds before he’s in line of sight with Ardyn and begins to carefully climb up the man’s coat.

The overly-coated man moved closer, actually burying his face into Prompto’s hair and breathing in deeply, moaning at his scent.

“And now I’ll add another piece to my collection,” Ardyn started, feeling Prompto tense up, “There are two things I love in this world: fashion, and a delicious meal. And you, my darling, smell like the most sinful of treats.”

He opened his mouth then and Prompto felt Ardyn’s fangs scrape against his neck and immediately took action, reflexes near lightning quick, even for a human. Prompto jerked away, removing several layers from his person at the same time in one swift motion. His eyes flashed with color and he threw the layers then onto Ardyn who had to deflect them, giving Prompto just enough time to get into a better fighting stance. Unfortunately this knocked Gladio off, his small body flying through the air. Noctis flew in then, unable to hide any longer with Prompto in immediate danger. He thrust out a leg, kicking Ardyn in the side to knock him away as he took a protective stance in front of his boyfriend.

“Oh, I’ve been gifted by the presence of royalty,” Ardyn said, voice sharper than a blade as it cut through the air, grin growing wider and more bloodthirsty, “What a wonderful surprise.”

Gladio scurried quickly from where he had landed and transformed back, having moved to stand directly in front of Ardyn and going for his head, knee jerking up to slam into Ardyn’s stomach. The red headed man stepped just to the side, narrowly dodging Gladio’s thrust and countering with a jab of his own. Gladio was knocked off balance as the fist slammed into the side of his face, forcing an  _ OOMPH _ from his lips as Noctis ducked under the offending arm, grabbing Ardyn by the waist while Prompto ran in sync and used Noctis as a step, throwing his body into the air with a flip as he grabbed Ardyn’s face in his hands, Noctis releasing him once the grab was firm and backing away. Promtpo then used the momentum to launch Ardyn into the cave wall, Gladio having bounced back into the fray and rushing forward to pin him into place.

“Glad we finally got ya,” Gladio bit out angrily, slamming Ardyn’s head into the wall with a sickening  ** _CRACK!_ ** “You’re gonna make a good present.”

He let go and Ardyn’s body fell limply to the ground, eyes rolled into the back of his head and twitching before he went completely still.

Noct woots, “Great he’s knocked out can we go home now?”

Gladio looks at the unconscious Ardyn on the ground. “Sure but Prom what the fuck since when can you fight?”

“Well Noctis is a pretty good teacher,” Prompto chuckled, “Learned a few things from him.”

“Prompto you’ve never fought like that before. How can...you know what nevermind I’m just glad I don’t get a lecture from Princess in the corner about your safety,” he snorts.

Noct rolls his eyes, “Whatever Gladio.” He takes his time and looks over Prompto, “Are you ok? Do I need to break Ardyn’s fingers? You did well as bait but I’m never letting you do it again,” he insists before hugging Prompto.

Prompto chuckles, “I might need you to carry me back like a princess since you defeated the big, scary dragon and saved me.”

“Hey love birds how about we head home,” Gladio teases.

“Oh pipe it Gladio. Don’t even start that nonsense,” he smirks. “Who said we were going to fight Ardyn because some beanpole with booty has you whipped.” Gladio looks away flustered unable to reply. Instead he picks up Ardyn’s unmoving body and swings the dead weight like a burlap sack over his shoulder.

“Ardyn was a problem anyway,” he mumbles.

Noct grins, “Oh you didn’t deny it,” he chuckles. “You got it bad for him don’t you.” Noct teases not receiving an answer from Gladio.

Prompto’s stomach growled loudly then, “So uhhh… Are we actually gonna get groceries? Because I’m starving.”

\---------------------

“So you just gotta  _ feel _ it in your gut,” Iris started, poking at Ignis’ stomach, “It’s kinda like… Oh! Like when you gotta throw up!”

Ignis’ confusion was palpable, written on his face as though it were a book.

“Like nervous?”

“If that floats your boat,” Iris replied with a shrug, stretching up with a grin as she disappeared into a puff of bright pink smoke before brushing it away with a large bear paw.

“A  _ bear _ ?” Ignis yelled reflexively in shock.

A grin is all he got in response, as well as another poke. With that Ignis decided to concentrate on that feeling of nervousness, a familiarness settling over him that was very animalistic in nature. Concentrating on it, that grew stronger and stronger until it felt like a damn at the brink of bursting when he was suddenly surrounded by the purple smoke. The floor shook vigorously as Iris─now incredibly larger, thanks to Ignis’ smaller stature─tromped over excitedly and picked him up, Ignis yowling loudly as she carried him through the house.

Noct sighs holding the bag of groceries mostly flavored blood with some real human food ingredients. Might be easier for Ignis to get use to the blood if it was hidden in human food or something he used to eat. Plus Prompto needed human food to eat.

“So do you think Ignis is sleeping? He was just newly changed,” asks Gladio.

Noct rubs his eyes, “I don’t know. You can ask your boyfriend once we get there,” he teases as Gladio rolls his eyes moving Arydn’s body on his shoulder into a more comfortable position.

“Yeah whatever. Hopefully Iris is letting him relax─”

The group hears loud meowing and roaring coming from the room. Noct watches Gladio’s face drop and chuckles.

Prompto grasps at the door handle despite the ruckus noises coming from the room, finally managing to twist it enough for the door to swing open and...

Gladio can’t believe his eyes Iris is swinging around Ignis in her arms while in bear form. Ignis does not look amused to be in her arms and meows loudly in Gladio’s direction.

Ignis continued to yowl loudly, tail twitching and ears flattened against his head which was thrown back, meanwhile, Ignis’ body was flung back and forth limply. Iris, still a large bear, let out a noise of excitement, although to most it was simply a loud growl.

Gladio stares up at Iris and projects to her,  _ Iris put him down. Now. _

_ You’re no fun! He DOES look like Mr. Whiskerton IV, though! Well, except for his glasses _ , Iris said through her mind, projecting her thoughts to everyone in the room.

She still didn’t put him down, instead opting to plop herself into a sitting position and cuddling him against her face. This was met with a  _ MAOW _ from Ignis, wriggling himself free and quickly darting behind Gladio, tail twitching nonstop and his nose sniffing the air.

Gladio smirks,  _ He likes me better sis. _

Gladio looks down at Ignis and smiles, “Hey Ignis can you transform back into a guy? I kind of got a gift for you,” he says pointing at the man still knocked out over his shoulder. “This guy is killing my back. You never said he would be this heavy Ignis.”

Ignis watched Iris with suspicion as he made his way over to his crumpled clothes, managing to get his shirt on top of his pants and boxers before grabbing the wasteband in his mouth and dragging them into the bedroom. After several tries he managed to transform back, quickly throwing on his clothes, buttoning the shirt up as he walked back in.

“You didn’t need to trouble yourself in getting me a gift,” he told Gladio.

Noct smirks, “Aww think of it as a future wedding gift from us,” he teases making Gladio blush.

Gladio grunts, “If I wasn’t holding this unconscious dick on my shoulder you would have got punched Princess,” he states looking over at Ignis. “So remember when you told me about the fedora and lots of coats guy,” he pauses.

Ignis nodded, watching with a wary look on his face.

“Well I found him or we did,” hearing Noctis huff at him. “Anyway that description wasn’t much to go on but we had an idea on who it could be. The guy has been causing most vampires and non a lot of trouble… years of trouble so it’s a win-win for both of us,” he rambles before tossing Ardyn at Ignis’s feet. “Just thought you should have the killing blow… or if not I could do it if you don’t feel up to it? Either way the guy is going to die just thought… you know, you’d want to do it,” he blushes.

"You found…" Ignis trailed off, eyes boring into the unconscious body of the man before him.

His hands shook and he could feel rage bubbling deep in his gut. This person was responsible for his parent's death? The coats seemed familiar like he had stepped straight out of the memory, unchanged by time. At the same time though, Ignis could feel hot tears spill down his face at confronting his parent's murderer. After all these long years he could finally take his revenge. So why couldn't he do it? Why could he only stand there with fists balled and stare at the killer wordlessly?

He had imagined the death he would give this man countless times. Ranging from tying him to something just to watch the vampire crisp and burn in the light of the sun, to slowly cutting into him until death was begged for, to a quick death. They got Ignis through every challenge, every fight he had encountered, all to bring him closer to his goal, all to bring him to now. Now when all he wanted to do was simply end this  _ Ardyn’s  _ life by his own bare hands, why couldn’t he do anything?

Gladio watches Ignis’s expression change from fury to sadness to determination to lost. He steps over Ardyn’s body and pats Ignis on the back, “You know you don’t have to kill him… we have, a way of making a vampire unable to leave unable to escape from here. You could torture him if that would make you feel better? And then bake him in the sun when you are done? I mean shit Ignis don’t cry. I didn’t want to make you sad,” he says patting him on the back worried about what else he could do.

In the end Ignis grit his teeth together and looked at the others.

“I want to watch him turn to ash.”

“Right, so let’s get him tied up to burn in the sun,” shrugs Noct nonchalantly.

“Well I, for one, find that idea quite abhorrent. Burning is quite painful, you know.”

Ignis looked down to see Ardyn looking up at him, the man was still weak from battle, but his tongue was still sharp and his words cut into Ignis. In response, he knelt down and whispered into Ardyn’s ear.

“Your existence is abhorrent, and it will be purged from this land so that you may never plague it again with the poison that is your existence.”

“Oh, so scary, if I were standing I’d say my boots would be shaking.”

Gladio smirks at the comment, “Hey Ignis you a knife guy?” he asks before taking a knife from his boot. “It’s tipped in something awful. Something vampires can still heal from but it feels agonizing when done. Sort of like healing over a pole that’s been jammed in your abdomen and you get stuck cause it heals over the pole,” he says flushing. “Not speaking from experience or anything but,” he offers the knife to Iggy. “Kind of makes the journey to ash a little more painful.”

Ignis takes the blade and turns it in his hands skillfully with a flourish repeatedly as he debated. Honestly, he had studied anatomy as an extra course when training to become a hunter. The faster you could take down a vampire, the faster you could defeat the next, and the more likely you were to live to see the dawn. While he could no longer watch the sun rise, he could easily find a way to make this man, this  _ deamon _ die slowly. With precise aim, Ignis severed the muscles that allowed Ardyn to walk, knowing that it would take more than a little while to heal from an injury like that, even for a Vampire.

“Walk that one off,” Ignis hissed, unable to deny that the ridiculous barb made him feel better.

“I shall,” Ardyn quipped back hastily, baring his own fangs as the pain radiated from ankle to pelvis, “As through taking a leisurely beach stroll.”

Each cut, each slice, brought on more retorts from Ardyn as though it were a game that was being played. In the end, Ignis had pinned him to the floor dagger poised at Ardyn’s mouth which was curved into a painful smile.

“Lost your nerve? Still that terrified whelp in the closet, watching his mother and father as their throats were ripped out. Will you render me as mute, coward?”

The words struck him like a blow to the gut. He hadn’t realized that tears were flowing freely down his face, nor that his breathing had become labored or his hands were shaking like leaves.

Gladio places a hand on Ignis’s shoulder, “Here let me show you a trick,” he states taking the knife from Ignis.

Ardyn forced a laugh from his lips, “Do what you will, it will not revive dear Mummy and Daddy.”

Gladio kneels down by Ardyn inserts the blade into the man’s mouth and slices up both sides of Ardyn’s face making his jaw hang loosely. “Cutting a tongue it’s hard to do and you can get nicked by the fangs but it does slur some words.” He looks over at Ignis, “do you want to chop him off piece by piece? That’s slow and painful. Body trying to regenerate,” he looks over at Ardyn, “but unable due to the poison. Can’t die from bleed out either too hardy for that,” he grins as he offered the handle to Ignis, “Finish him Iggy and have some fun.”

“I’d rather the sun finish him, render him to naught but ashes to be blown to every corner of the earth,” Ignis replied, shaking his head.

Gladio shrugs looking at the bleeding mess that is Ardyn. “Hmm guess it’s curtains for you bud. Alright let’s tie him up in the chamber,” he says looking over at Noct and Prompto for help.

Ardyn chuckles words slurred, “Can’t finish me yourself? Pathetic, just like your parents,” he laughs being dragged by Gladio towards the outside chamber for prisoners who are sentenced to burn by the sun.

Noct groans, hitting Ardyn under the back of his head right where his spinal cord meets. “Ugh he talks way too much. Too long winded for my tastes,” he says as Gladio dumps Ardyn by the stone pole.

“Yeah, real douche canoe can we just tie him up and watch him bake? I want to catch some z’s after he turns to ash,” he yawns as Noct pulls some rope from his armiger with ease. Gladio says nothing and begins to wrap the rope around Ardyn’s body as tight as he can around the pole.

“Tighter daddy,” Ardyn gasped with a mocking grin before looking to Noctis, “Takes more than that to knock me out cold. Your boyfriend over there hits harder than you, Princess.” 

Gladio snorts, “Sorry only Iggy can call me that,” Gladio realizes what he just said and coughs to cover it up but the damage is done.

“Let us burn him and get this over with,” Ignis said wearily, exhaustion pulling at him already.

He followed as Ardyn was dragged every step of the way with Ignis completely numb. He had spent all his energy on letting out every ounce of pain sevenfold onto the captive man that he had felt in his search, but now that revenge was within reach Ignis simply wanted it over and done.

Gladio shrugs and drags Ardyn by his long hair ignoring the cries from the man. Noct just rolls his eyes as he floats down towards the chamber and unlocks the door. Gladio shoves Ardyn inside as Noct shuts the steel door and locks it with ease.

“Now we just wait,” Noct yawns.

Gladio pats Ignis on the shoulder, “come this way. You’ll have a great view of him turning to ash,” he grins leading Ignis to one of the protected rooms from the sun with a view of the totrtue chamber.

As the light leaked into the room Ardyn let out a wail of pain, staggering backward as his skin reddened and blistered as the sun. Slowly he crawled, reaching out to where he knew Ignis stood, strained smile on his face as he managed to speak in a broken voice.

“I’ll see you in hell,  _ vampire _ .”

Ignis couldn’t breathe as Ardyn turned to ash, body turning into nothing more than a crumbling grey line. He shook his head, trying to dispel Ardyn’s final words.

“Wait, there’s a hell?” asks Noct mocking shock. “Oh no, I’m so terrified.”

Gladio slaps his hand against Noct’s shoulder in a shut up motion as he looks over at Ignis.

This was his new life, and with a new life came new beliefs. Vampires weren’t so dissimilar to humans as he had been led to believe, maybe one day there would truly be inclusion and equality, but for now…

“Hey Ignis,” he asks walking over towards the tall man. “You uh… you alright?”

Ignis swallowed before responding, “There’s a longstanding belief amongst the Hunters: Vampires and Humans don’t go to the same places in the afterlife. To that standard, I will never rest with the souls of my parents,” at this, he took a shaky breath and looked Gladio in the eye, “But I’ve learned many things in this short time since arriving, so perhaps that, too, was wrong.”

“It’s late or early depending on how you look at it. So how you sleep with me,” he blurts hearing a snort from Prom and Noct. He flushes, “Shit I meant as in sleep in bed. You know nothing yet, or ever if you want just regular vampire sleep cause vampires still do that,” he mumbles.

After a moment Ignis nods, closing his eyes and leaning toward Gladio with his head against the other’s shoulder, “I think… I think I’d like that…”


End file.
